The conservation of the 16th-century Painting of Saint Anthony of Padua has been made possible thanks to the generous support of Mary Ellen Oldenburg.

The 3rd apse of the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, on the left-hand side of the central apse, is home to the Saint Anthony of Padua Chapel, distinguished by its 17th-century marble and stone altar restored by Save Venice in 2022. The altar is decorated with two early 18th-century stone statues representing a friar saint, possibly Saint Anthony of Padua, and a deacon saint. Notably, before the late 1970s, rather than the statue portraying the deacon saint, there once stood an early 18th-century sculpture depicting the Venetian Saint Lorenzo Giustiniani. This sculpture had originally decorated the high altar of the basilica until 1929, forming an integral part of a composite Longenan sculptural ensemble that featured four white marble putti supporting a funeral urn set above the mensa.

The altar is decorated by an oil painting portraying Saint Anthony of Padua, a prominent figure in the 13th-century Franciscan order, ranking second only to Francis himself. Encased in a wooden frame, the painting is adorned with a marble drape, gracefully suspended by four stone cherubic winged heads. Anthony is portrayed in the customary hooded grey habit of the Franciscan order, his right hand raised in a gesture of blessing, while his left hand holds the saint’s traditional attributes.

During his lifetime, Saint Anthony gained renown for his powerful preaching and profound grasp of holy scripture. These qualities earned him the title of Doctor of the Church, bestowed by Pope Pius XII on January 16, 1946. Saint Anthony’s mastery of the scriptures is eloquently captured in the painting, where he is depicted holding a book, a distinctive symbol setting him apart from other Franciscan saints. Furthermore, he is depicted with a white lily stalk, a widely recognized symbol associated with the saint, representing the purity of his body and soul.

The conservation process will involve removing a substantial layer of accumulated dirt and grime from the pictorial surface, as well as the brown, oxidized varnish that has obscured the original palette. Any areas of lifting or flaking paint will be stabilized and small areas of losses will be integrated using removable conservation paints. A final layer protective varnish will be applied to safeguard the artwork.

Unidentified painter
Saint Anthony of Padua
Ca. late 16th century, oil on canvas

Agazzi, Michela. Corsi e ricorsi della storia dell’arte. Gli altari di Torcello e Murano dal Medioevo al Barocco e ritorno. In Failla, Maria Beatrice and Susanne Adina, Meyer Chiara, Piva Stefania Ventra, eds. La cultura del restauro Modelli di ricezione per la museologia e la storia dell’arte. Rome: Campisano Editore, 2013, pp. 205-220. Link to the article

Niero, Antonio. The Basilica of Torcello and Santa Fosca’s. Milan, 1979